MCLV Style: Symphony Gala
I had the honor of attending the San Francisco Symphony Gala last week – A fun event that includes some GREAT people watching, an amazing Symphony performance, and dinner, drinks & dancing.
{You can shop similar pieces by clicking these hyperlinks: Tiered Black Gown – BCBG Maz Azria, Beaded Clutch – Vintage, Ankle Strap Heels – Fendi, and Turquoise Necklace & Rhinestone Earrings from Sasha Maks Vintage}
{You can HYPE this look on Lookbook.nu}
Check out more outtakes from this shoot here – just log into Facebook to view
It was a truly great night – I met fun & interesting people, danced my little booty off, and enjoyed some tasty vino. But the best part was, without a doubt, watching all the ladies mingling in their lovely gowns. Sequins, feathers, brights, white, retro, fun prints, florals, basic black… My friend and I were so busy looking around that we barely had time to talk!
A special thank you to Sasha of Sasha Maks Vintage for loaning me the gorgeous jewelry that I wore and to Magdalena of the Joseph Cozza Salon for the fantastic hair and makeup. You really need to love your stylist if you’re going to be sitting in the chair chatting for two hours. 🙂
Can’t wait to go again next year!
If you were going to dress up like Cinderella and go to the ball, what type of dress would you look for? Something bold and daring or more elegant and understated?
Looks of the Week
Happy Monday!
I hope that everyone had a great weekend. I’ll tell you all about my amazing weekend in Sonoma tomorrow, in the meantime here are some great style pictures to jumpstart your Monday and get you in the mood for a fashionable week.
J'ADORE!!! I love the mixing of colors, patterns, fabrics, and textures here. It's simple in its composition, but the end result is a complex, well-put together, chic as hell look!
I love love love this look! The shorts and chic and fun, and they look great paired with the brightly patterned top. The floral necklace and the adorable day clutch are the perfect final touches. Absolutely great!
One of my favorite articles of clothing is a great dress. Something well-made, classic, stylish. Something that you can wear again and again, year after year. This is that kind of dress!
I love this delicate, girly, vintage-inspired lace dress. The contrasting collar is perfect and I love that she paired glittery flats with it rather than heels, it works well with the mod style.
Tribeca Film Festival 2012:
I love love love this photo! Karlie looks dazzling in Chanel and being flanked by the adorable Brant kids is perfect.
I like the glamorous but laid-back cool of both of these looks. I love little white dresses for Spring but I'm a sucker for stripes so I'm going to have to say that the look on the right is my favorite.
Lily Kwong looks stunning in Chanel, I love the black & white dress and her choice of accessories is right on - the pops of green and red are perfect.
Simple. Chic. Sexy. What more does a girl need for a night out?
The PERFECT little white dress courtesy of Reiss. A flattering fit and the perfect color against her skin - Camilla Belle looks phenomenal here!
Great Sass & Bide dress! It almost looks like Peter Pilotto, doesn't it? I like it paired with a basic leather jacket, very cute.
The 2012 White House Correspondents’ Dinner:
Kerry Washington decided to show us all the power of color for this event! A simple, streamlined look that popped beautifully against her skin and flaunted her gorgeous figure. Well done!
Anna Paquin's dress was dramatic and interesting for basic black, but what really stood out to me were her gorgeous earrings, bracelets, and clutch. Well done on the accessorizing. And her makeup looks phenomenal.
Kate Hudson was anything but a wall flower in floor-length purple sequins. Wow. Way to make a statement!
The top of this gown makes it anything but boring black. Paired with her beautiful retro waves and showstopping turquoise earrings Reese was quite the vision.
Elizabeth Banks has been kicking some booty on the red carpet lately during her Hunger Games touring and she continued her sartorial success in this Antonio Berardi gown. Now that's how to rock a peplum!
I've been LOVING shorts looks lately and this was is great. A little rock n' roll and glam, but still laid back and summery. Gorgeous!
Tomorrow is the first day of May and I’m planning to participate in Definitely RA’s Mission: Put Together – 2012, which is another fashion challenge like the one hosted by Freckles In April earlier this year that I really enjoyed, so expect some fun pictures in the next week or so.
Back tomorrow with some great pictures from my weekend!
New Girl on the Block – Felicity Jones
Well, perhaps “new” isn’t the most accurate of words, but I figured since I had to IMDB her to figure out why she was suddenly popping up everywhere I could get away with calling her new.
And yes, “to IMDB” is a verb now. 🙂
Not only is Felicity Jones a striking young lady, she also makes great fashion and beauty choices. She favors dramatic and ladylike styles on the red carpet, a combination that is unusual in Hollywood these days but less so in London (the fact that she’s pale, dark-haired and British aren’t the only reasons she reminds me of Keira Knightley). In Hollywood the younger crowd seems to, tragically, equate rising success with rising hemlines. Young actresses like Felicity are a breath of fresh air when they appear in more classic and demure designs as their careers start to take off.
Here are some of Felicity’s successes as of late. Enjoy!
In Proenza Schouler @ The Hollywood Reporter’s Annual Next Gen Reception. While I think this skirt would have been more flattering with a little hemming, I really like the look as a whole. Its interesting and eye-catching, something both Felicity & Proenza Schouler do well.
Source If you love this stripe-on-stripe look you can shop the pieces over at ASOS Fashion Finder. 
Aaand you know you’ve really starting to be big time when the clothing and make up companies come a knocking. 
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Oh, and then there are the editorials. And this girl gives GREAT face. 
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So what do you guys think of Felicity? Think she’ll be able to keep up her great fashion choices as the red carpet opportunities continue? I can’t wait to see the gowns she picks for the upcoming awards season!
Real Girls Need Real Closets – Accessories Edition
While every girl needs to get her hands on the basics (Real Girls Need Real Closets), sometimes its the extras that really make an outfit pop.
Case in point – Eva has a stunning figure and looked sublime in this white Dior gown, but she would not have been the talk of the town without all of her gorgeous turquoise jewelry
And while, tragically, the Golden Globes isn’t on the docket for most of us, a girl can always use some standout accessories so she makes a splash on her own personal red carpet. Jewelry 
As much as I love those little blue bags at Tiffany’s, I have to confess that I’m a huge devotee of vintage and vintage-inspired jewelry. Must be the romantic in me. I like that the pieces have history, that someone has loved them, that they’re unique and one of a kind. Gold, silver, real, costume… You name it, I love it! I have some gorgeous pieces handed down to me from my mom’s side of the family, mostly gold, and I’ve been scouring vintage shops in San Francisco for years. 
Scarves/Pashminas 
If you’ve spent any time in San Francisco you know that the weather is schizophrenic to say the least. In a city where it can go from foggy to sunny to pouring rain in the span of three hours, a pashmina is a girl’s best friend. I usually have one in my purse, one at my desk, and I never travel without one (perfect if you want to avoid scratchy airplane blankets when you fly!) 
I picked up this habit living in Italy, and like French women, Italians adore their scarves. You can wear them draped over your shoulders, looped multiple times around your neck, across your neck and hanging down in back, even twisted around the handle of your purse. Gloves 
My glove obsession is probably the result of my mother raising me on Hitchcock movies. I’ve loved Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and the rest of their contemporaries as long as I can remember. In fact, for my fifth grade wax museum I dressed up as Grace Kelly. What can I say, why would I want to be Amelia Earhart when I can wear a tiara? Driving gloves, opera length, (faux) leather, cropped, mittens, animal prints… One of my favorite and oh-so-Hitchockian ways to wear long gloves is with a boxy jacket that has 3/4 length sleeves so you can see a good portion of the glove. Add a bracelet over the glove and ta-da! 
Hats While I’m not personally much of a hat wearer, I do believe that a hat can add an extra kick to an outfit. Finding the perfect hat to suit your face shape and your outfit may be a bit of a challenge, but worth the effort if you can get it right. 
Showing us just how to pull one off, even if you’re enjoying balmy Southern California weather, I present one of my best friends, Jacqueline Koob. Unique clutch In addition to the compulsory black clutch that can be paired with anything, it’s a good idea to have a stand-out clutch to spice up an all black ensemble. 
This one is a no-name vintage clutch that my grandmother gave me. I carried it last year when I went to the San Francisco Symphony Gala and it was the perfect final touch for a sleek, classic look. 
My friend Nathaniel and I in grown-up prom mode. 🙂 The look would have been very simplistic without the fun clutch and earrings, so keep that in mind when you’re putting together a monochromatic ensemble, accessories can take it from ho-hum to wow. 
Happy hunting!
Moi Contre La Vie 